Oslo's valleys

I wasn’t intending to go birding today with other matters that needed attention but after an errand I found myself close to Oslo’s second best valley – Sørkedalen and thought that I would give it a drive through thinking that the time is just right for a migrating Rough-legged Buzzard or Great Grey Shrike to turn up and sure enough sat on the top of a tree was a GG. Nice!

Buoyed by this luck I then tried the same in Maridalen but had to accept that on this day, and this day only, Maridalen may have been Oslo’s second best valley. The Whooper Swan family showed flying in from the NW (presumably exploring the area and feeding on one of the many lakes in the forest) and the young look to have become very accomplished flyers in the course of just a few days

 

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

The Whoopers (sangsvane) coming into land

there are great autumn colours at the moment

.